Wild Turkey Federation
January 20th, 2006 by Administrator
Wild Turkey Federation has events planned
The 5th Annual Hunting Heritage Banquet sponsored by the Team Camo Crookston Chapter of the National Wild Turkey Federation will be Friday, Feb. 3 at the Eagles Club in Crookston. Yelping and gobbling, or social hour, begins at 5 p.m. with dinner set to be served at about 7 p.m.
Tickets are $45 for singles, $65 for couples. Ticket holders receive their meal and a one-year membership to the WTF and are eligible to receive valuable prizes exclusive to the event. All ticket holders will be eligible to win prizes exclusive to NWTF events. Place the highest bid and you could go home with sporting art, hunting guns, knives, calls, outdoor equipment and more.
Friday’s event “allows us to do bigger, better things” by raising funds for projects, said Event Coordinator Bill Kresl. Plus, the evening promises “something for everyone” with a meal, silent auction and raffles on guns and other hunting equipment, limited edition prints, bronze sculptures and other exclusive items, plus other activities.
Although tickets are sold at the door, Kresl suggested calling him at 281-5805 or e-mailing nwtfteamcamo@kreslproperties.com if you’re planning to attend so they can get an estimated head count for the meal. For more information on the NWTF, log on to the Website www.nwtf.org.
“Even if you do not hunt, come to this fun event anyway to help us fund NWTF’s education and habitat programs and for the great limited addition artwork,” said Kresl. Plans for the banquet include having people from the Department of Natural Resources provide education and information on wild turkey being released in northwest Minnesota, he added.
Turkey release
The DNR, with the support and help of the WTF, is currently in the process of trapping wild turkeys in southern Minnesota and relocating them to northwest Minnesota, Kresl explained. This area has been significantly lacking in wild turkey numbers.
This afternoon (Jan. 19) the first release event is set with 14 hens being released on the beach ridges southwest of Thief River Falls the city. The turkeys will be fitted with small radio backpacks and released before dark. More releases are planned near Red Lake Falls on the Red Lake River.
“There will be a total of 25 hens and 7 to 10 toms and Jakes also released at each of the two sites,” Kresl commented.
There is currently no turkey hunting season in this area because, well, there are supposedly no turkeys to hunt. But Kresl said it wouldn’t hurt to allow a hunting season very soon in rural areas to alleviate populations of pen-released wild turkey such as those hovering around Georgetown. The birds become pests because they have no fear of people, so they can cause traffic frustrations when they don’t move off the road for oncoming vehicles.
“Normally Wild Turkey would not come that close to the road in such numbers (30-40),” he explained. “If they open a hunting season on them in that zone, they would tend to act more like wild birds than tame. This is one of the several reasons that the DNR does not want people to release them on their own.
“When the Trap and Transport Program brings birds in the area they assimilate to the environment,” he went on. “Wild turkey are not like tame domesticated firds in regards to reactions to people.”
A wild bird can become tame just like wild deer if raised in the right environment, Kresl added.
“It is important to have these birds properly released, or big problems can occur.”
By Natalie J. Ostgaard, City Editor